Altered Reality
by hatondog
Summary: Tag for Lost, now complete. The Astraeus crew is living in an altered reality, but it's in part of their own making. Spoilers for the episode.
1. Chapter 1

Altered Realities

Beverly Barlowe smiled to herself as she rewatched recorded memories of the alternate reality being experienced by the kidnapped Astraeus crew. "So predictable," she murmured as she saw Allison stand frozen on the stairs of SARAH, gazing in shock at the sight of Carter and Jo Lupo kissing.

When the system being used to manipulate the Astraeus crew's perceptions was designed, certain aspects of a virtual Eureka were pre-programmed by Consortium scientists. Most significantly, the idea that Eureka had been taken over by DOD owned AI's was planted in the crew's minds to stimulate an "us versus them" mentality. The goal was to leverage the crew's newfound suspicion of the DOD to undermine the government's control over Global Dynamics, opening the door to a Consortium takeover.

For the faux Eureka to be convincing, though, the crew members had to become emotionally invested in the storyline constructed around it. That could only happen if the "people" populating the virtual town behaved in ways that resonated with each individual. To that end, the system was designed to allow the crew to mold aspects of the imagined narrative to fit their shared perceptions of town's real residents.

Initially, the assumption had been that each crew member would create their vision of an idealized Eureka, where problems faded away and love conquered all. They didn't. Instead, fears—especially unacknowledged ones—drove the plot for most crew members.

Having been a therapist to many of the captured crew in the past, Beverly wasn't surprised at the neuroses which surfaced. More than a few crew members were suffering through a Eureka in which they were ridiculed for any number of social failings. Others found themselves struggling to understand even basic concepts of subjects they'd mastered in real life.

It was all entertaining, but seeing Allison's worst fear enacted in real time was what amused Beverly the most. She'd always felt that Allison's calm demeanor served to hide a host of insecurities, especially about the men in her life. Even so, Beverly had always envied Allison her relationships, first with Nathan Stark, then with Jack Carter. And with her children, although even Beverly wasn't callous enough to be happy at Allison's pain on being introduced to her own daughter as if they were strangers. But seeing her "lose" Carter to another woman? That was delightful.

Beverly's smile faded as she considered the woman who Carter had been lost to. Had the thought of him falling in love with his former deputy started with Allison or with Lupo's ex, Zane Donovan? Zane was proving to be more of a potential risk than they'd realized. Clearly the strongest willed person in the group, he had already demonstrated an ability to mentally push against the boundaries of his virtual universe. If that continued, she might have to shut him down, thereby losing a potentially valuable tool in the Consortium's arsenal.

Beverly had left Eureka before Zane arrived, so didn't know him well. Yet given his history of challenging authority, she'd counted on him being more than willing to fight DOD influence over Eureka. But she hadn't counted on Zane having any deep emotional ties to the town he'd been paroled to. In that, she'd underestimated his feelings for Jo Lupo. As, apparently, had he, since it seemed his version of Jo didn't know that he loved her.

Maybe he hadn't known himself—or at least hadn't been confident enough about whether his feelings were reciprocated to act on them. Either way, he'd left for Titan without resolving the issue. His obvious fear that he'd lost Jo to a more mature relationship made his behavior in the alternate reality unpredictable. That made him a danger to the Consortium's plan.

Beverly's eyes moved back and forth between Allison and Zane, lying in adjacent beds. She sighed—if she had to lose one of them, she'd have preferred it be Allison. Her hand hovered over a control panel with an array of buttons, each labeled with the name of an Astraeus crew member. Every button activated life support functions for the person it was devoted to. Press on, the person lived. Press off, they'd eventually die.

Her fingers came to rest on the button labeled "Donovan," then slipped away. She looked again at the playback monitor, stopping the action on a scene between Zane and Lupo in the Global Dynamics rotunda. Tone deaf to Zane's mood, Lupo suggested that they could be friends. Anger flashed briefly in his eyes, only to be replaced by defeat. His shoulders slumped as he walked away.

Zane was mad at Carter and Lupo, yes, but Beverly would bet he was even angrier with himself. That could make him reckless with his own safety, a perfect attribute for a human weapon.

She smiled as the playback resumed, confident that she would succeed in bringing Eureka down using its best and brightest. And if it caused them and their loved ones pain along the way? Well, that was small recompense for the pain she'd suffered at their hands, from being labeled a sociopath to languishing in Guantanomo.

Yes, Beverly thought. This was going to be fun.


	2. Chapter 2

Altered Reality, Chapter 2

"This is what Jo felt like," Zane realized with a start. In a blink of an eye, she'd lost the man she'd loved to another timeline. She'd lost _him._ Now time had returned the favor. Zane left for what felt like mere minutes and Jo was gone. Not absent, but as unavailable to him as if she was on another planet.

In fact, he decided, he had it worse. When time changed for Jo, they weren't together any longer, but he wasn't with anyone else either. He might not have loved her, not then, but it was possible that he would again. Not so for him now. He was doomed to watch Jo with another man, living the life she should have had with Zane.

He closed his eyes tightly. "I can't do this," he whispered.

"Can't do what?" asked Fargo, startled. He was sitting next to Zane outside Café Diem, both of them lost in thought as they stared into long-cold cups of coffee.

Zane shook his head. "Nothing," he sighed. "This reality blows."

"Jo?" Fargo asked. Zane just looked away. "I'm sorry," Fargo said quietly.

As if conjured by the conversation, Jo drove up and angled her car into a parking space next to the restaurant's patio. She hesitated at the sight of Zane and Fargo, then walked toward them with purpose. She'd only taken a couple of steps when Zane shoved his chair back and stomped away without a backward glance.

"What is his _problem_?" Jo asked, waving her hands in exasperation. "Eureka is a small town. He can't avoid talking to me forever." Fargo said nothing. Jo narrowed her eyes at him. "This is not my fault." Fargo just shrugged. "He knows that, Jo. It's just…" he struggled under her glare for the right words. "It's just really hard for him, you know?"

She stared at him, face suddenly blank. "Well, he'll just have to get over it, won't he?"

Vincent appeared with carry out for the Carter family in hand. He looked nervously from Jo to Fargo then at Zane's abandoned cup. "Um, hey, Jo. Dinner for three?" he said questioningly. Jo turned to him with an alarmingly brilliant smile. "OK, then, well, here you go," Vincent stammered, handing over three white bags.

"Thanks!" Jo reached for the bags, peering quickly inside. "Looks great. We're all starved and I haven't seen Jack all day. I can't wait for us to curl up with this at home." The wattage on her smile dimmed as she looked in the direction Zane had gone, then she shrugged. "Not my problem."

Fargo stared after her as she walked away. He'd known Jo for years, many of which she'd spent with Zane in one fashion or another. They'd engaged in memorable public displays of affection and had legendary fights. Jo threw Zane in jail and set him free. Zane thwarted her authority and asked her to marry him. Once upon a time, she'd agreed, although she later claimed they were over. Love, lust, anger, disappointment…over time, Jo had felt them all for Zane.

What she never seemed to be around him was indifferent. But now...that blank look on her face…could being in love with Carter really crowd out _everything _she'd once felt for Zane, even compassion? Not to mention that Jo rarely even acknowledged Allison, who was devastated at the loss of her relationship with Carter. "Weird," Fargo whispered.

"What's weird, Doug?" a perky voice asked. Shuddering, Fargo turned to see Isaac Parrish grinning at him. Parrish hadn't yet recovered from the effects of the A.S.S., so was still gratingly pleasant. Vincent rolled his eyes and took refuge inside Café Diem.

"Uh, nothing. Just thinking that I need to get back to GD. No rest for the Director." He stood to make his escape. "So, I'll just…". His voice trailed off, attention captured by a strange reflection in the Café's glass window. He knew the set up inside—tables ringed a counter that wrapped the restaurant from front to back. The counter had the usual diner accoutrements: coffee machine, bakery case, beverage bar.

It didn't have a bank of computer consoles. But that's what Fargo had seen, he was sure of it.

"Sir?" asked Parrish.

"Don't call me sir," Fargo muttered automatically.

"Yes, sir," Parrish answered cheerfully.

Fargo cut his eyes at Parrish, then looked back at Café Diem's front window. No computers in sight. "Weird," he breathed again, then quickly turned to ask if Parrish had seen anything unusual. As he did, Fargo caught a passing expression on his former nemesis's face that caused the question to die on his lips.

Parrish's face was blank. Just like Jo's had been. Then the broad smile returned, creepier than ever.

"What's wrong, Doug?" Parrish repeated.

"Er, nothing! Nothing at all," Fargo said, backing away toward his car. "_Everything_," he thought.

He had to warn the others. About what, he wasn't yet sure. Maybe he was still tired from the trip home. Maybe he was just imagining things that weren't there. He glanced again at the window, now obscured by the sun's glare, then stumbled. Vincent was standing in the Café's doorway. His expression was utterly blank.

Fargo spun toward his car, only to ram into Jack Carter.

"Whoa! Where's the fire?" Carter asked genially.

"Oh, hi, Sheriff!" Fargo squeaked. He was uncomfortably aware that he sounded like a panicked child. "Nowhere! I mean, I'm just going back to work."

"Well, I'm headed that way. Be happy to give you a ride," Carter said. "My new jeep's just right over there."

Fargo stepped back. Why would Carter be going to GD? Didn't Jo say she was picking up dinner for them to share at home? He edged past.

"No, thanks. That's nice of you, but my car is here so….I'll just be going now." His last words came in a rush as he finally climbed into his car. He sighed with relief as he pulled away, only to shriek as a figure popped up from the backseat.

"Fargo! Shut it—it's just me," Zane yelled.

"And me!" called out Holly as she also emerged jack-in-the-box style from the backseat. Fargo shrieked again. "You sound like Isaac," Holly scolded.

"You _scared _me," Fargo protested.

"That's nothing," snapped Zane. "You think you're scared now, try seeing things that aren't there."

"Like a bunch of computers in Café Diem?" asked Fargo.

Zane looked surprised. "Yeah, like that. You saw them too?"

"Oh, oh," Holly bounced on the seat. "I did! Not in Café Diem, I haven't been in there today since I'm trying to avoid caffeine…it makes me sort of hyper, you know? But in my house—I came home today and I swear there was a big desk with computers on it sitting right in the middle of my living room. Then it was gone. Poof!"

"Something strange is going on here. Until we know what it is, we should stay together. We need to find Allison and Grace-" Zane was cut off by a head butt from Holly, who was thrown against him when Fargo made a hard turn without warning. "Oww," she said, rubbing her head as she extricated herself from Zane's lap. Before she was fully upright, he jumped from the car.

Holly looked up to see that Fargo had swerved to avoid Jo's car, which was blocking the road in front of them. Jo stepped from it as Zane advanced on her.

"What the hell, Lupo? Not going to let us leave? How? Gonna tase me? Go ahead, try it," Zane shouted at her. Holly could see Jo's lips moving, but couldn't hear what she was saying. Whatever it was, it stopped Zane in his tracks.

Around them, what had seemed like solid buildings only moments before shimmered. Flashes of blue light appeared and disappeared. Indistinct sounds came from all directions, but one voice broke through, repeating itself urgently. It was Jo's.

"Zane, this isn't real. You've got to get up. Please believe me. Get up. This isn't real. This isn't-".

Everything went dark and silent.


	3. Chapter 3

Altered Reality, Chapter 3

Zane tried to identify objects and people in the space around him but nothing would stay in focus. A rising tide of nausea forced him to clamp his eyes shut. He thought he heard a woman's voice, but it wasn't Jo's. He felt a sharp pang of disappointment at that, then mentally shook his head. "Bigger issues," he thought. "Where the fuck am I?"

He tried to lift his arms, only to realize that they and his legs were strapped in place. His stomach swooped with panic, so he distracted himself by moving his fingertips over the surface he was lying on. A table of some sort. The straps over his body were attached to it. A hospital bed? Not comfortable enough—this surface was hard. Operating table? That idea brought the nausea back with a vengeance. A woman's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Hello, Zane. I knew you were going to be a problem."

He stiffened. The voice wasn't familiar, but the menace in it was. He'd been on the receiving end of comments from enough people whose last nerve he was grating on to recognize the sentiment.

"Sorry to ruin your plans," he croaked, throat dry. "What were they again?"

Beverly laughed without humor. "Oh, my plans are far from ruined. But I did so hope you'd be a part of them, for a while longer anyway. You could have been useful." She stroked a finger down his cheek. "Besides, you're visually entertaining, something that's hard to come by in Eureka."

Zane jerked away from her touch, or tried to. Something on his head limited his movement. He swallowed hard against the fear that realization induced. Slowly, he opened his eyes again.

The woman standing next to him was tall and slim, with long dark hair. He put her age at mid-forties. He was sure they'd never met, but something about her rang a bell. Then he knew. Months before, a deranged woman had drugged him and most of Eureka's residents into unconsciousness while she and a team of goons plundered GD's research archives.

"Screw you, Beverly," Zane said conversationally.

Her smile vanished as she snatched her hand back. She glared for a moment, then walked away. "I may not regret closing that mouth of yours after all," she called over her shoulder.

Now that his vision had stabilized, Zane took in as much of his surroundings as he could see without moving his head. He seemed to be a lab. Large computer screens sat on tables in the direction Beverly had gone. A whooshing sound behind him suggested a fluid chamber of some kind. Clearly, this wasn't the Astraeus, nor did it seem like any room he'd ever seen in Eureka. It did, however, vaguely resemble the random images he'd seen after being zapped days before by a MARTHA drone.

Beverly watched Zane from just beyond his line of sight. For all his annoying personality defects, the man's brain was a wonder. She could almost see his mental wheels turning as he sorted through the limited information at hand. It was when his eyes cut toward Allison on the table beside him that she saw two and two make four in his mind.

"It won't work!" Zane yelled. "None of that shit we saw in Eureka was real, was it? You don't think they'll figure that out? You didn't even do a good job of faking it. Homicidal Andys? SARAH running GD? Lupo and _CARTER_? First rule, lady. If you're going to lie, do it well."

"God, he's irritating," thought Beverly. "How did Jo put up with this?"

She stomped back to his side. "So you think no one will believe what they see in Eureka, do you? Funny, _you _certainly seemed convinced that your girlfriend had moved on as soon as you were out of the way. Or maybe that's just what you think she will do. After all, Carter is really more her sort of man than an ex-con, isn't he?" She smiled grimly at Zane's sudden silence. "Don't worry, lover boy. If you cooperate, maybe you and she will live long enough to find out…how did you put it? Oh, yes, what could have been."

Before Zane could respond, a voice came from his right. "Go to hell," Allison said softly.

As Beverly spun toward Allison, more voices came from beds on either side of she and Zane. "What's going on?" "Where am I?" One by one, the Astraeus crew members were breaking free of the shared illusion that they were safe at home in Eureka. "I demand to see General Mansfield!" The last came from a confused Fargo, who'd incorrectly concluded that he was being detained in a military jail cell. "I'm going to be sick," Holly moaned, then was.

Beverly recoiled in disgust and frustration. "Quiet them down," she snapped at some unseen minion. "And clean that up," she gestured toward Holly as she walked out of sight.

Two men stood calmly at a control panel whose buttons were labeled with each crew member's name as Beverly approached. "Donovan first, then Blake," she commanded. "Watch Monroe too—we'll lose her if necessary. We can control the rest."

The shorter man nodded and reached for the panel, only to drop to the ground without warning. The other man reached around him and pressed his hand which wasn't holding a taser against a glass screen. As he did, the sound of liquid swirling around the cooling chamber at the center of the room faded. Lights dimmed and the bonds holding the Astraeus crew on tables around the room loosened.

"This isn't the future your father wanted," Trevor Grant said.

He and Beverly stared at one another for several moments. Grant stepped toward her, seemingly intending to block her path to the control panel. However, she didn't make any move in that direction. Instead, she pulled a gun and fired at him without hesitation.

Zane and another Astraeus crew member grabbed Beverly from behind. As they struggled to restrain her, Allison stepped forward. With a strength she didn't know she had, and might never have again, Allison hit Beverly hard enough to drop the woman with a single punch. Allison caught Zane's eye and smiled briefly before turning to Trevor Grant.

Grant was slumped against the control panel's side, blood oozing from a wound in his chest. He smiled weakly up at Allison. "We meet again," he said as she knelt beside him. "I don't know what to say to you," Allison said grimly as she pulled his shirt away from shoulder. He winced as she used the material to press against the bullet hole.

"Yes, well, I can assure you that this is not all what it seems," Grant began. "There's a lot of that going around," Zane growled. Others had pulled Beverly away while he stayed to help Allison. "Ah, Dr. Donovan," Grant responded. "You gave these Consortium people quite a headache." He gasped as Allison's probing fingers found the exit wound on his back, then looked directly at Zane. "Good for you," he said emphatically.

"What?" Fargo leaned over the control panel to peer at Grant. His tone was incredulous, although it was hard to say what astonished him more—Grant's words or his presence. Grace had joined Fargo but was silent, intent on hearing an explanation.

"Beverly Barlowe tried to recruit me to the Consortium's cause when I was in Eureka. I'm afraid she was quite persuasive. As a result, I did things I'm not proud of. Things that very nearly cost you your life," he said sadly to Allison. She just pressed her lips together and continued to apply pressure to his injury. "And you your freedom, Dr. Donovan," Grant acknowledged, referring to a time when he had used Zane's GD access code, causing Zane to be arrested for the Consortium's later theft of a dangerous device. The same device which later almost caused Allison's death.

"I knew that was you!" Zane started, but Grace shushed him. "Zane, stop. Listen," she said, never moving her eyes from Grant's face.

"Those events forced the Consortium to suspend its efforts to shut Eureka down," Grant continued. "Suspend, but not end. They didn't realize that I no longer supported their goals, so they approached me with a new scheme last year. One that led us to where we are today." Sweat was beading on his forehead. Allison sighed.

"I know we need to hear what he has to say, but he shouldn't continue now," she said to Grace. "I'm sorry, but he's lost blood and needs to get better medical attention than I can provide here." Lest anyone have the impression that she really cared for Grant's suffering, she added, "If he dies, we'll have to rely on _their_ version of what happened." She gestured around the room, where Beverly and several captured Consortium soldiers were being guarded by the Astraeus crew.

"But, but," spluttered Fargo. He quieted when Holly placed a hand on his arm. "There's a little medical set up right through that door," she gestured. "I just got cleaned up in there." Everyone turned to look at her. She was dressed in a lab coat, and apparently nothing else. Holly shrugged. "I was messy," she explained. Her face flushed as they continued to stare. "I'll just go get a gurney," she said in a squeaky voice, then scampered away.

Grant's eyes had closed, but he opened them to speak to Zane. "A communications module is next to the biometric access panel. If you'll support me while I stand, I'll restore power so you can speak to the people in the control center for your spaceship."

"Why the hell should we trust you?" snapped Zane.

"You should, but there's no reason for you to know that yet," answered Grant in a reasonable, if strained tone. "However, I think you'll find that having that at hand," he gestured to Beverly's fallen gun, "should increase your comfort level."

Zane looked at Grace, who nodded. She picked up the gun and held it steadily on Grant. With Allison continuing to press against the flow of blood from Grant's shoulder, Zane pulled him to his feet. Grant paled but managed to put his hand on the glass access panel. Lights came on around the room and across the console.

Grant turned to Allison. "What was that phrase from that movie we watched? The one about the bulbous little alien? Oh, yes," he smiled slightly. "ET call home." With that, Grant passed out.

**Author's Note: One more chapter to come…it'll tie up the story before the next episode comes along to blow this storyline out of the water. Thanks for reading.**


	4. Chapter 4

Altered Reality, Chapter 4

News that their presence in a lab rather than Eureka or Titan was likely the result of a Consortium plan spread quickly among those of the Astraeus crew who were sufficiently coherent to share it. A few crew members were still sitting on their beds, blinking as if they'd just emerged from a dark tunnel. But most others were at least trying to follow their training, looking for ways to be productive despite the prevailing confusion.

Unfortunately, the Consortium workers were following their training as well, answering all questions with only their names and titles. Beyond that, they were passive in the absence of direction from the still unconscious Beverly.

Zane and Grace stood alone at the control console, trying to figure out how to operate the communication module. Grant had passed out without passing along any details about how the machine could be used to reach the outside world. It didn't help that they had no information about the immediate world outside the room they were in. What appeared to be exit doors refused to open when tested and the room lacked any windows. For all anyone from the Astraeus knew, they could be floating in space or somewhere on Earth.

It was terrifying. No one spoke about the fear, but the anxiety level in the room was palpable.

Growling with frustration, Zane banged his fist down on the console. Appliances which suddenly cooperate on being hit, kicked or screamed at are a standby in cartoons, but they rarely respond that way in real life. The Consortium's communication module proved to be an exception to the rule. It came to life, filling the room with static.

Zane and Grace flew into action, tuning in frequency after frequency in an effort to make a connection. Static alternated with silence for long moments, and then a voice came clearly across the line.

"Identify yourself. This is a secure transmission channel of the United States Department of Defense. What is the nature of your communication?"

They stared slack jawed at the console, hardly believing what they'd heard. Then Grace squared her shoulders and responded with authority.

"My name is Dr. Grace Monroe. I am the captain of a classified U.S. space mission, code name Astraeus. We are-." She paused, having no idea how to describe their situation. "I believe our ship has been hijacked. We have gained control over the perpetrators, but don't know where our ship is." She drew a deep breath. "For that matter, we don't know where _we_ are either."

Her pronouncement was followed by a long moment of silence. Then the voice answered slowly.

"Ma'am, am I understanding correctly that you're saying you are…," the person speaking seemed to be searching for words. "…lost in space?"

Zane groaned. If anything had ever sounded like a prank call, this was it.

"No," said Grace grimly. "I am telling you that we don't know _where _we are. We were in biosuspension for the Astraeus launch. We awoke in a facility whose location we haven't been able to determine. And we are asking for…no, demanding that an immediate rescue effort be made."

"Biosuspension," the voice said flatly. Grace and Zane shared a look of exasperation. One of the drawbacks of working at a top secret research facility was that very few people knew about it. That sometimes made getting assistance from those not in the know about its technological advancements difficult. What was science fact to Eureka researchers sounded like pure science fiction to laymen. Grace gritted her teeth and spoke with deliberation.

"If you are operating this channel of communication, then you are capable of getting a message to General Robert Mansfield of the United States Army. I suggest that you tell him that the Astraeus crew is alive and that Dr. Monroe needs to speak with him immediately." Her tone became even sterner. "If you are entertaining any thought of notpassing this message along right away, consider this: the United States Government has invested _20 billion dollars _into the Astraeus mission. If you choose not to alert General Mansfield to our situation, the loss of _every last dime_ of that 20 billion dollars will be on your head."

Another long period of silence followed, during which time Fargo, Allison and a few others joined Zane and Grace. When the voice finally responded, they shared a collective sigh of relief.

"Hold for General Mansfield, please."

"Booyah!" crowed Fargo. Grace rolled her eyes and looked questioningly at Allison.

"Grant will survive, but he's still unconscious. We'll have to wait to learn more from him. Including where we are—there doesn't seem to be any other way for us to determine that," Allison answered.

"More worried about _when _we are than where," Zane muttered.

Allison looked at him with understanding. The possibility that they hadn't lost four years of time—that they hadn't really lost Carter and Jo—had crossed her mind as well. In fact, she was nearly giddy at the thought that the horrible losses she'd seemingly suffered were nothing but a Consortium-induced illusion. Zane was clearly hoping for the same thing.

"Is this the person who identified herself as Dr. Monroe?" General Mansfield's voice boomed over the line.

"Yes!" Grace called. "This is Dr. Grace Monroe. I am here with all of the members of the Astraeus crew."

"Dr. Monroe. This is…," the General sounded uncharacteristically hesitant. He cleared his throat and began again. "I will need your identification code." Grace provided it. He responded with a series of questions about the crew's condition and their surroundings. When they finished, General Mansfield assured her that work was underway to trace the origins of their connection and, once determined, a rescue team would be sent immediately.

Unable to contain herself, Allison blurted out, "General, if I may ask, how long have we been missing?"

Mansfield misunderstood her, interpreting the question as a challenge to the adequacy of any search they'd conducted. "Ah, yes. Well…perhaps we should defer this discussion to your debriefing. But I can assure you that there was a search, an extensive one." He paused. When he spoke again, his voice lacked its usual bluster. ""It was only yesterday, in fact, that it was terminated. The likelihood of there being any survivors appeared too remote to justify a continued search effort."

"How long?" barked Zane. It was the wrong move. Mansfield still resented Zane's presence on the Astraeus mission and in Eureka. His tone provided the General with an excuse to shift the conversation away from a topic he obviously didn't want to pursue.

"Is that Donovan? I will not-."

But there wasn't time to hear what it was the General wouldn't do. He interrupted himself to advise that their location had been identified. They weren't in space at all. In fact, it was unlikely that they ever had been. Instead, their signal was emanating from an abandoned manufacturing plant not more than 10 miles outside of Eureka's city limits.

A hush fell over the people within earshot of the General's voice. The thought that they'd been kidnapped and apparently brainwashed within a day's walk of the town was stunning.

However, proximity to Eureka meant rescue was imminent. Before long, an armored vehicle broke through a wall of the lab. As the dust cleared, people poured through the opening. Soldiers. Medics. And Jack Carter, followed by Jo Lupo.

Zane and Allison turned to each other with matching expressions of horror. When they'd left Eureka, Carter had been the town's Sheriff and Jo was GD's pantsuit-clad security chief. In their forced imaginings of a Eureka four years after the launch of Astraeus, Jo had become Carter's deputy and his lover. Allison lost the relationship she'd had with Carter, while Zane lost the chance at one with Jo.

Their shared hope that neither loss was real was shattered by the sight of Jo running toward them in the uniform of a Eureka deputy sheriff.

Allison sank weakly into a chair next to the control console. Zane tried to walk away but was blocked by Holly and Fargo, who were hugging in glee. Before he could maneuver around them, he was tackled by Jo. She leapt up, wrapping legs around his waist and arms around his neck. When he opened his mouth to question the move, she closed it with a kiss. Finally, the realization that she was more than happy to see him broke through his dumbfounded brain and he returned the kiss with enthusiasm.

When Jo's feet touched ground and they came up for air, she gasped out words as she continued to pepper kisses onto Zane's face. "We thought you were dead. It had been so long…there wasn't any trace of the ship. They searched everywhere, but it was like you'd vanished into thin air…". She pulled back and looked into his eyes. Hers were shiny with unshed tears. "This whole time…oh _God_, Zane, I thought I'd lost you again."

He stared back, questions swirling through his head. How long _had _they been gone? The uniform…why? And she'd leftEureka…what the hell?

He opened his mouth again to ask those questions, but they didn't come. Instead, he heard himself say "I love you, Jo."

She froze and stared at him in surprise. As the silence between them dragged out, Zane stiffened and dropped his eyes drawn to the badge pinned to Jo's chest. "Stupid," he thought. Whatever parts of the hallucination he'd experienced weren't true, it looked as though Jo _had_ moved on, just as he'd feared. Whether she was with Carter or not, it seemed she still wasn't interested in more with Zane. Yeah, she'd kissed him pretty thoroughly, but that might not mean anything. Their physical contact was always pretty passionate. Maybe she'd just been relieved to find him and the crew alive.

"It's been a year, Zane," Jo said softly. "I left Eureka to find out what I wanted, but had to come back to help find the ship. I still have a lot of unanswered questions."

"Right. Sorry, just forget it," Zane stepped back, now desperate to escape. Jo grabbed his arm before he could move too far away. He turned and she slowly eliminated the space between them, hands snaking around his neck.

"I said I still have things to learn. I didn't say I haven't learned anything already—I have." She rose onto her toes and leaned close. "Such as, the thing I want the most is already here." She touched her lips lightly to his then leaned back so their eyes met. "I love you, too."

Without hesitation, Zane dropped his mouth to hers and pulled her against him until their bodies molded together. His hands roamed over her in a way that was definitely not intended for public viewing. Neither one cared.

Around them, Allison and Jack, Grace and Henry were lost in each other as well. They barely noticed the commotion as the lab filled with rescuers and the Consortium workers were removed in handcuffs. Except when Trevor Grant went by on a gurney. Carter spluttered, "Dr. Old Spice? What the-," only to have Allison shake her head, murmuring "Later," as she pulled his head down to hers again.

Unraveling the mysteries of the Astraeus mission could wait. They were home.

**Author's Note: I know I said this would be the last chapter, but it seems that one more to tie up loose ends and let our heroes enjoy the homecoming a bit is in order. So stay tuned.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Finished this up before tonight's episode, yay! Thanks for reading.**

Altered Reality, Chapter 5

It was two weeks after the Astraeus crew was rescued before life returned to anything like normal for them. Disorientation, nightmares and difficulty accepting that none of the events they'd experienced over the last year actually happened were common. They'd all lost muscle mass from lack of physical activity and faced a long road back to fitness. Still, the crew was generally healthy and very glad to be alive.

Trevor Grant survived the experience as well, although his freedom would be in question for some time. Despite his explanations for his role in the Consortium's plot, the DOD remained skeptical about his innocence. As did several others, notably including Jack Carter.

According to Grant, he'd joined the Consortium as a kind of poison pill. When they approached him to rebuild a version of the Einstein Bridge device to create an altered reality for the Astraeus crew, he'd recognized that the Consortium would eventually execute their plot whether he participated or not. Pretending to support them would put him in position to sabotage the project at an opportune time.

That he'd waited to do so until the crew had been missing for a year and the search for them called off undermined his credibility. The timing was suspicious—with the military no longer nearby, the Consortium could start the simulation in earnest. Had Grant stopped them earlier, the risk that its plot would succeed would have been much lower. The crew would have also been spared the horror of thinking they'd actually lost four years of their lives, a Consortium trick intended to maximize their vulnerability.

Grant's justification for his delay in acting was that the crew's mental connection to the Bridge simulation and each other's minds took a year to stabilize. Had he interfered earlier, severe brain damage would have been the likely result. In the meantime, he was able to tinker with the Bridge device's programming to alter the simulation in a way that made it less believable, in the expectation that the crew would eventually reject it.

As Zane ultimately did. When he began to see through the illusion, his subconscious stepped up to shatter it. The pleas he heard in Jo's voice to wake up had been the last step in the process but entirely a figment of his imagination. One that delighted Jo when she learned of it. She took every opportunity to tease that at least Zane's brain was smart enough to know that he needed her to rescue him.

He was too relieved to care about being the butt of her joke. The grief he'd felt at seeing Jo with Carter had shaken him. Zane knew he cared for Jo before he'd left for Titan, but he couldn't admit to himself that he'd fallen in love. Back then, she was still insisting that they were just friends. Being an expert in protecting himself from pain, unrequited love just wasn't in Zane's repertoire.

So he'd refused to tell her that he wanted more from their relationship. She'd left town to find herself, and he'd vanished with the Astraeus. If she really had fallen for Carter or he'd never returned, neither would have ever known what kind of future they could have had together.

Having dodged that bullet, they weren't willing to chance being separated again for any length of time. Without need for discussion, Zane moved into Jo's house. Neither of them had any need to be anywhere but with each other. Zane had been debriefed and given a clean bill of health Jo's temporary position as Carter's deputy had ended now that the DOD was relinquishing control over GD. She would eventually return to her job as GD's security chief, but for now she was happy to leave it to her second-in-command.

So they focused their time on improving Zane's cardiovascular condition without setting foot in a gym or out of bed. Food arrived at Jo's door from Café Diem at regular intervals, making Vincent's delivery staff the only people she and Zane saw for nearly two weeks.

Their one public appearance was to watch Beverly Barlowe being taken away to prison. She would probably never leave there, which was cause for celebration by the entire town. Yet Beverly left Eureka without answering the biggest remaining question regarding the Astraeus mission: where the ship was.

Portable mission equipment was found in the Consortium facility where the crew had been held. But the Astraeus itself was still missing. Every Consortium worker swore that only Beverly knew its location, and she wasn't talking. Not about the ship, not about anything. She'd lapsed into a catatonic state, or an excellent impression of one.

The fate of the Astraeus was a mystery that seemed destined to never be solved.

_EUREKA EUREKA EUREKA EUREKA_

Allison looked up from the final report of the investigation into the Consortium's plot and design. Zane had finished reading it and was pushing his copy back and forth on her desk.

"So it was us," Allison said.

Zane nodded tersely. "Apparently," he answered.

They sat in silence for a while, then Allison began to laugh. Zane scowled in confusion. "Want to let me in on the joke? Because I'm not sure we read the same thing."

"I'm sorry," Allison tried to speak calmly. "It's just so absurd. When I think of all the energy I devoted to hiding my fear of losing Jack from him, only to have my subconscious spell it all out in Technicolor detail for the entire crew." She waved the report. "Not to mention having it _documented_ by the Department of Defense." With that, she dissolved into laughter again.

Zane's frown deepened. "Yeah, well, still not seeing the humor. As I read this, my brain contributed a lot to that storyline too. Not loving that Jo thinks I'm afraid of losing her to Carter."

"I don't think it was that literal," Allison said softly. "I don't really think Jo and Jack would ever have a romantic relationship. It's more what they represent. Jo has a history with Jack. And she could protect him if…" Allison didn't need to finish the thought. An ex-Ranger with expertise in weaponry was more capable of fighting against the constant threat to a Sheriff's life than Allison. Her medical expertise would only be of use to Carter after any damage was done.

Zane snorted. "So you're saying Beverly was right? That I think Jo deserves someone like Carter more than an ex-con like…". His voice trailed off. "I see your point," he finished miserably.

Allison laid her hand on his arm. "No," she said. "You don't. Maybe we did influence the hallucination by putting Jo and Jack together. _But none of it was real._ And now we have a second chance to make sure nothing like that ever happens." She smiled. "I guess we just have to believe."

Zane snorted, then grinned. "Piece of cake." He stood and said, "Well, no time like the present to get started on this new believing thing."

"What happens next?" Allison asked. Zane shook his head. "I don't know. It depends on when Jo feels like she has the rest of the answers about her life she's looking for," he answered.

Allison stepped around the desk. She hesitated a moment before giving Zane a brief hug.

"Good luck," she said. "You too," he answered, then left Allison and the report behind.

Two hours later, Jo pulled onto the interstate that led from Oregon to points east with a strong sense of déjà vu. She'd been in the same spot, doing the same thing, just a little more than a year earlier. Off on a walkabout of sorts, hoping to find out who she was and what she really wanted from life.

But it was different this time. She looked quickly over at the man sleeping in the passenger seat of her car. Zane hadn't fully regained his stamina yet, and it didn't help that they'd done their best to drain what energy he had the night before. He tended to drop off to sleep easily and Jo didn't expect him to wake for several hours.

The sense of been there, done that faded. This trip _was _different. This time, she wasn't leaving home behind. They would return to Eureka someday, maybe not too far in the future. In the meantime, everything that made a place a home for Jo was sitting beside her.

She smiled, and accelerated down the road.

~**Fin**~


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